It was fairly cold this morning…probably upper 30’s when I got out of my tent at 6:00. It gradually warmed up into the 60’s and then got cooler as the trail climbed to ~10,500′.

Wildflowers and mountain creeks never get old…

…nor do wildflowers and selfies.

The clouds started building up by mid-day. This is my first view toward Yosemite (about 15 miles south).

Within five minutes after descending down to Sonora Pass who should pull up? Mrs. Focus and Molly the RV. She was kind enough to give me and a hiker from Slovakia a ride 10 miles down the mountain to the Kennedy Meadows North Pack Station (KMN). It was a white-knuckle descent down a narrow-windy mountain road in a big-heavy camper van.

KMN is one stop shopping for all your horseback adventures. Plus they have cabins, showers, laundry, a cafe and a general store. They offer hikers a package deal including a bed in a bunk room (I was the only one). After making a pint of ice cream disappear I sorted through my resupply box and got everything else organized. One of the reasons I send most of my resupplies ahead. are $6.69 Nutter Butters. I still give them plenty of money for things I don’t send (ice cream, soda, etc).
Look who I ran into…Gilligan & Mongoose !
I last saw them leaving the comfort of our plush hotel room in Cascade Locks, OR. I beat them to Canada by several days, but they picked up the trail again 200 miles further south than me in CA and then had to spend a long holiday weekend waiting for their bear canisters to arrive at the post office in Tahoe. We parted ways again (they headed back out in the late afternoon) but I should catch them in Tuolumne Meadows, 3 days from now.

There were a lot of “ranch” dogs wandering around the grounds. This one, named Lucy, seemed to take a liking to me.

The weather definitely seems to have entered a cycle of afternoon cloud build-up, thunder, and rain/hail if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Hopefully, this doesn’t make things too exciting as the trail gains higher elevations in the Sierras.

Another great sunrise to start the morning.

The peak on the left is called Nipple Top. Clear skies with a light smokey haze to start the day.

The trail climbed through desert cliffs reminiscent of Souther California.

Most of the morning the trail wound through these funky rock formations.

I’m sure this one has a name…but i don’t know what it is.

I’m still surprised and impressed by all the wild flowers hanging on into September.

By the afternoon the skies couldn’t decide whether to be threatening or clear.

These are two guys also hiking southbound…I’ve only seen two others since I got back on trail in NoCal.

I found a gorgeous campsite that had a few too many cow pies for my liking. Plus, the incessant clanging of cow bells would have driven me nuts. Lastly, not my preferred water sources in these areas. I hiked another 3 miles, crossed a barb wire fence (no more cows) and camped next to a creek 🙂

I’ve now passed 2400 trail miles and have less than 250 to go!

It was quite the tent city last night…. I took a pic before I left this morning.

Beautiful alpine hiking.

Then the trail dropped down to a magnificent Meadow.

There was a small visitor center when I crossed the highway at Carson Pass. I really like this shirt they had for sale.

This beautiful lake unfortunately was not on the PCT. I missed a turn and hiked a little over a mile before I realized my mistake. At least I got to see the lake 🙂

Some lingering snow covering the trail. This would have been pretty sketchy back in June!

I haven’t done a selfie in a while.

I found a great campsite with a fantastic sunset view.
The sunset lasted for 30 minutes or more….

I took a lot of pics!

Today can legitimately go into the “epic day” column. The trail started out a little underwhelming considering how much I had been hearing about the “Desolation Wilderness” area for months. Around mile 6 the trail finally opened her kimono. Way too many pics to choose from today!

Tricked you on this one…not the sun rising, but the full moon setting at 6:30am.

One of my favorite trees, the Jefferey Pine. They often remind me of Bonsai trees.

The Desolation Wilderness in all its glory! Dozens of lakes surrounded by walls of granite.

After summiting Dicks Pass (9400′) the trail descended to even more lakes.

Lake Aloha might have been my favorite.

The trail finally popped us out at the Echo Lake marina. The clouds were threatening with thunder much of the afternoon, but luckily I remained dry.
The store was shutting down for the season but let me buy 1700 calories (not pictured, the It’s It Ice Cream sandwich…yum!). Gone in 60 seconds.

This creek was noted as “Seasonal” in my guide, which should mean nice and gentle if running at all come September. Instead, i started having Sierra flashbacks. The partially submerge log (next to the boulder) I crossed is a bit obscured in the pic.

Look who was parked at the Echo Summit trailhead..Mrs. Focus (and Molly, the RV). She very kindly had a pint of Ben & Jerry’s waiting for me but after the damage I had done to the Pringle’s (et al) 30mins back I had to decline. I did manage to down a Coke while I relaxed inside. Plus, I will have a the gravitational pull of ice cream waiting for me at Sonora Pass in 75 miles …talk about some motivation!

The sunrise was solid, but would have been perfect if I was a couple miles further down the trail…

…because it would have been directly over my first view of Lake Tahoe.

Most of the late morning was spent hiking along this high ridge past the tops of several ski areas (Alpine Meadows, Squaw Valley).

There were many views of Lake Tahoe to the East.

Most of the afternoon was dodging thunderstorms. The umbrella performed admirably. Mostly just my feet and legs were wet from all the wet brush. Lots of Sierra granite can be seen in the background here.

I’m camped just inside the Desolation Wilderness Area, a very popular place for backpacking. I’m looking forward to checking it out tomorrow… hopefully, with clear skies.

My campsite was a great location for watching the sunrise…

…the first couple miles of trail was an encore performance.

I made a brief morning stop at this Sierra Club backcountry cabin. The door on the 2nd story is how they get inside during the winter (snow).

I like the two story outhouse as well 🙂

I want to introduce you to a trail angel extraordinaire, Mrs Focus. Her husband is hiking the trail an I have seen them both on and off since Warner Springs (Mile ~110). Mrs Focus drives an RV and meets her husband every couple days at road crossings. In between she has helped 100’s of hikers whether it’s a ride to town, a slice of watermelon or mending clothes (my shorts). She is also a very accomplished quilter and has been working on an incredible PCT quilt.

I sure hope get to see the finished product. She has made dozens of 10×10 squares celebrating so many of the places and things we’ve seen along the way.

After crossing I-80 and then Donner Pass (yes, THAT Donner Pass) I made a stop at this Sierra Club Lodge where I had sent my bear canister back in June. It is required to have it through Yosemite which I will get to in about a week. Luckily, Mrs Focus agreed to take it with her in the camper to Sonora Pass where I can grab it (140 miles away…no sense lugging that thing further than I need to!) I was also able to get a hot shower and do laundry at the Lodge for a modest donation.

The climb out of Donner Pass in the early evening was gorgeous.

I found a great little campsite at 7:30, about 15 minutes before dark.
And a great sunset to end the day.

This is definitely starting to feel like the homestretch. I have about a week to get to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite and then another week to finish. For those keeping track at home, my end will be M-788, where I left the Sierras back in June.

The day started with a 1.5 mile road walk back to the trail from town (not much traffic to hitch a ride at 6:15am).

Shortly after getting back on trail a bridge crosses the Yuba River…kind of a cool gorge.

The climbs today weren’t too bad considering the trail went from 4000′ to over 8000′. All in there was over 7000′ of climbing. Not as hot today, especially at the higher elevations.

This a view looking back toward Sierra Buttes which the trail traversed around yesterday.

There are definitely signs of summer’s end…all the ground cover changing colors. And what is that in the upper left corner? A rain cloud? A short afternoon thunderstorm was the first I’ve had in 2300 miles.

This transitional time of year is fantastic as there are still wildflowers hanging in there.

Some giant whales of snow will likely not melt by the time the next snow arrives. Try to imagine what it was like here two months ago in July.

Beautiful cold, clear mountain spring water.

This is home for the night at 8100′ 🙂

I hope these sunrise pics aren’t getting boring for anyone out there.. I’m still loving them !

Lots of lakes in the valleys below… but none on the trail 😦

Still the occasional snow patch.
I almost hitched a ride to town.

The Sierra Buttes… will be hiking over the right shoulder in a couple hours.

Descending into Sierra City…zoom in to see the trail snaking down.

The Sierra City general store was a happening spot… cold drinks (98+ degrees outside) and free wifi.

Definitely time for new shoes…

…luckily they arrived as planned!
Best $7 spent today!

Temps were very mild this morning even at 5000+ feet of elevation. I was hoping that wasn’t a sign of what was to come later in the day!

The smokey haze makes for an eerie sunrise.

Most of the day was either hiking above treeline through dry desert landscapes …

..or densely wooded forests (most of the day) providing much needed shade. It wasn’t quite as hot as the last several days since the trail stayed at higher elevations (5000′-7500′).

This deer walked about 20′ ahead of me down the trail for a couple hundred yards…could have cared less about me.

I called it quits a couple miles earlier than I had planned when I saw this great campsite…there was even a creek nearby, which have been rather scarce the last couple days.

Tomorrow is a shorter day into Sierra City (“city” in the loosest sense of the word). Maybe I can give my feet a good scrubbing, perhaps even a shower! Plus, I have some new shoes waiting for me. My current shoes gave me 650 tough miles and are starting to get more holes than I care to mend…although plenty of other hikers out here would squeeze another 250mi+ out of these.

This was the view I woke up to in my sleeping bag. I might miss this the most in a couple weeks!

An unexpected bathroom was a nice surprise mid-morning.

I think I found some squirrel’s mother lode!
(Most of these are 12-18″ long)

There were a couple views today, but mostly obscured by smoke-haze.

The temps got into the mid-90’s but the trees kept things reasonable most of the day. By mid-afternoon it was just hot everywhere… until an oasis like this!

This was an impressive bridge built just for the PCT over the middle fork of the Feather River.

The crickets are getting loud for the first time. Kind of soothing after a while.
It was a long dusty-dirty day.

I almost saw a bear today, instead I only heard it. Bears have a very distinct sound when they run off through the woods. Kind of like a bull in a China shop breaking every bush and branch in their path. Where as deer tend to glide through the woods when they run, barely touching the ground.